Romans 1:5,6 - Through whom we have received grace and apostleship

1:5

It was through Christ that “we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of His name among all the nations”. Now we can take this as specifically referring to Paul, and it undoubtedly applies to Paul. Paul was chosen by grace and appointed as an apostle to the Gentiles through grace. And it is through Christ that this grace was received. Without His death and resurrection there would have been no grounds for Paul receiving grace. However, it says “we” and we can take this verse as having a much wider application, namely to all of us who believe. “Apostleship” means being sent, it is not just a title, but can have a more general application. And we see here God’s purpose for us. Indeed, this verse has clear echoes of the Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20) where we are told to teach them (all nations) everything that Christ has commanded us. We are here to bring about the obedience of faith among all nations, and that includes today, when we see our nations in the West being so blatantly disobedient to God.

1:6

“Including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ”. Earlier Paul has referred to himself as a slave of Christ, so he “belonged” to Christ. The Christians in Rome were also called to belong to Christ. We need to appreciate the depth of what the gospel is all about. It is not just “Jesus loves you, how wonderful!”. Jesus does loves us, far more than we ever appreciate, and it is wonderful, again far more wonderful than we ever appreciate. We have been forgiven at an extraordinarily deep level, we have been born again, and we are called to an utterly transformed life.